Patriot turf bermudagrass

ABSTRACT

‘Patriot’ is an improved clonal turf bermudagrass cultivar suitable for many applications including golf course fairways and tees athletic fields, home and commercial landscape sites, and parks and playgrounds. It is a tetraploid (2n=4x=36 chromosomes) interspecific F 1  hybrid from a cross of  Cynodon dactylon  by  C. transvaalensis  characterized by dark blue-green color, vigorous growth, good winter hardiness, and good turf quality.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

‘Patriot’ bermudagrass is a clonally propagated F₁ hybrid plant from a cross of Cynodon dactylon var. dactylon by C. transvaalensis. The cultivar will be marketed as Certified class sod and/or Certified class sprigs.

Background of the Invention:

The maternal parent of ‘Patriot’ was ‘Tifton 10’ bermudagrass, Cynodon dactylon var. dactylon. The pollen parent of ‘Patriot’ was a selected plant of Cynodon transvaalensis designated by its field nursery location identity as 4200 TN 26-8. ‘Tifton 10’ is a commercial cultivar that differs from most C. dactylon plants in having 54 chromosomes (hexaploid; 2n=6x=54) compared to the usual 36 chromosomes (tetraploid; 2n=4x=36) and having a darker green foliage color (Hanna, et al., 1990). The C. transvaalensis pollen parent has 18 chromosomes (diploid; 2n=2x=18). ‘Patriot’ is a tetraploid with 2n=4x=36 chromosomes, presumably having inherited 27 chromosomes (3 genomes) from ‘Tifton 10’ and 9 chromosomes (1 genome) from the C. transvaalensis parent.

The cross between ‘Tifton 10’ and C. transvaalensis “4200 TN 26-8” was made in 1992. Seeds from this cross and crosses between other parent plants were germinated in late winter 1993 and the seedlings individually planted in greenhouse pots. The potted plants were transplanted to a field screening nursery in spring 1993 as spaced (3 meter centers) plants. ‘Patriot’ was first vegetatively propagated in late 1994. The vegatative propagation occurred in a greenhouse on the Agronomy Farm, Oklahoma State University and was selected in late 1994 for advancement to more comprehensive testing including testing in replicated experiments through time and space to measure adaptation and performance characteristics. At the time of its first selection in 1994 it was identified as “OKC 18-4” and evaluated under this designation. ‘Patriot’ has been clonally propagated through many generations since 1994 without any indication of genetic change. Advanced generation clonal plants appear identical to the original plant in morphological phenotype and in genetic characteristics that have been measured.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

‘Patriot’ bermudagrass produces a high quality turf suitable for most turf applications including golf course fairways and tees, home lawns, commercial lawns, playgrounds, parks, and athletic fields. ‘Patriot’ produces a dense, dark-green turf of high visual quality. It has medium-fine texture, grows vigorously, and has good cold hardiness. These characteristics make it especially useful in climatic regions representing zones of transition between cool- and warm-season turfgrass species. ‘Patriot’ is an F₁ hybrid of the cross ‘Tifton 10’ by C. transvaalensis “4200 TN 26-8”. It has 2n=4x=36 chromosomes having inherited 27 chromosomes (3 genomes) from ‘Tifton 10’ and 9 chromosomes (1 genome) from C. transvaalensis. ‘Patriot’ is highly sterile and is propagated asexually by sprigs and sod. ‘Patriot’ can be distinguished from other turf bermudagrass cultivars by morphological and/or genetic characteristics outlined herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a photograph of five-week old growth of ‘Tifton 10’ (left), ‘Patriot’ (center), and C. transvaalensis “4200 TN 26-8” (right). The intermediate size and texture of ‘Patriot’ relative to the parents are illustrated.

FIG. 2 illustrates stolons of ‘Tifton 10’ (bottom), ‘Patriot’ (second from bottom), ‘U-3’ (third from bottom), and ‘Quicksand’ (top). Stolons were taken from five-week old growth of potted plants in the greenhouse. The relative length and diameter of internodes is illustrated as are the relative length and width of leaves.

FIG. 3 illustrates laterally growing stolons of ‘Patriot’ during stand establishment. The photograph was taken in early October showing the response of ‘Patriot’ to cool temperatures in production of anthocyanin pigmentation.

FIG. 4 illustrates leaf tips of ‘Patriot’ (left), ‘Tifton 10’ (second from left), C. transvaalensis “4200 TN 26-8” (third from left), and ‘U-3’ (right). Leaf tips of ‘Patriot’ and ‘Tifton 10’ leaf tips tend to be more oval and less pointed than typically found in bermudagrass.

FIG. 5 illustrates a typical inflorescence of ‘Patriot’ with four racemes typically varying in length from 2.5 to 3.5 cm.

FIG. 6 are photographs of ‘Patriot’, ‘Tifway’, and ‘Tifgreen’ mowed twice weekly at 19 mm (3.4 inch) height. A) ‘Patriot’ and Tifway, B) ‘Patriot’ and Tifgreen, and C) close-up of ‘Patriot’.

FIG. 7 are photographs of field plots of ‘Patriot’ (A & C) and ‘Tifsport’ (B & D) at Stillwater, Okla. on Apr. 5, 2002 and Apr. 12, 2002, demonstrating the typically earlier growth (green up) of ‘Patriot’ relative to Tifsport.

FIG. 8 illustrates the DNA profile of ‘Patriot’ and 12 other clonal turf bermudagrass cultivars using DAF (DNA amplification fingerprinting) primer 9111 (sequence GAAACGCC). The numbers on the Y axis indicate numbers of base pairs of nucelotides. The arrow points to a prominent band at the 220 bp region that is unique to ‘Patriot’ among these cultivars.

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

‘Patriot’ experimental name “OKC 18-4”) is a distinct cultivar of Cynodon from the interspecific cross of C. dactylon Pers. cv. ‘Tifton 10’ and C. transvaalensis Burtt-Davy cv. ‘4200 TN 26-8’. It was developed and vegetatively propagated by the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, Stillwater, Okla. Identifying morphological characteristics of ‘Patriot’ are its dark green color, strong anthocyanin pigmentation of stolon internodes during periods of cool temperatures, and high shoot density. It is intermediate to its parents in plant size and texture as illustrated in FIG. 1. ‘Patriot’ has finer texture than ‘Tifton 10’, ‘U-3’, and ‘Quickstand’ as illustrated in FIG. 2 by the relative diameter and length of stolons and stolon internodes. ‘Patriot’ is a stoloniferous sward-forming perennial with slender underground rhizomes; surface stolons are slender attaining a maximum diameter of approximately 1 mm, and a maximum internode length of approximately 6 cm. During establishment under good growing conditions stolons may attain a length of approximately 70 cm (FIG. 3). Shoot numbers emanating from nodes of stoloniferous runners range from 2 to 5 and average 3.0. Culms are slender varying in height on unmowed swards from about 10 to 25 cm. Culm density is high producing a dense sward (sod). Culm leaves are flat, glabrous on the abaxial and adaxial surfaces, and slightly serrate on the edges. Culm leaves emanating from the last visible node below the apex of shoots vary in width at their base from 2 to 4 mm and range in length from about 25 to 38 mm. The leaf tips resemble the Tifton 10 parent and are more rounded that is typical for Cynodon plants (FIG. 4) The ligule is a membranous rim about 0.2 mm long with very short hairs on the edge except at the outer edges where a tuft of much longer hairs grow. Leaf sheaths are glabrous. Inflorescence is a single whorl of 2 to 5, usually 3 or 4, racemes averaging 33 mm in length (FIG. 5). Racemes contain on average 25 spikelets spaced 2 mm apart and 2 mm in length. The lower and upper glumes are approximately ½ and ¾ the length of the spikelet.

‘Patriot’ was evaluated under the experimental name ‘OKC 18-4’ in the National Turf Evaluation Program (NTEP) bermudagrass test conducted at 21 locations from 1997 through 2001. This multi-environment testing provided the most definitive data on the performance characteristics of ‘Patriot’ relative to other major commercial clonal turf bermudagrass cultivars. The trademarked cultivar ‘Shanghai’ in this test is indicated by descriptions published by the Patton Seed Co. (2003) and Landry (2003) to be the same as ‘Tifton-10’.

‘Patriot’ produces a high quality turf surface as indicated by visual ratings of turf quality (Table 1, FIG. 6). Under management schedule “A” ½ to ¾ in. mowing height), the mean turf quality rating of ‘Patriot’ (6.1) was less than that of Tifway (6.4) and Tifsport (6.5), equal to that of CN 2-9, and greater than all other cultivars, including ‘Shanghai’. Under management schedule “B” ¾ to 1 inch mowing height), the mean turf quality rating of ‘Patriot’ (6.6) was significantly higher than those of all cultivars except ‘Midlawn’.

‘Patriot’ is relatively stable in turfgrass quality performance across environments (Table 2). It was lowest of all clonal varieties in sum-of-ranks across locations and finished in the top 25% of all entries in 65% of the locations.

‘Patriot’ has not shown high susceptibility to the major disease or insect pests of turf bermudagrass in the northern half of geographic region of bermudagrass use in the U.S. where it is expected to primarily be used. Spring dead spot disease caused by Ophiosphaerella herpotricha is the most serious disease of turf bermudagrass in the upper south of the U.S. ‘Patriot’ was evaluated for response to spring dead spot disease in a controlled test at Stillwater, Okla. during 2000 through 2002. Replicated plots were inoculated in September 1997 with Ophiosphaerella herpotricha. Measurements of the size of necrotic patches indicated ‘Patriot’ to have good tolerance to the disease (Table 10), much higher than very susceptible cultivars such as Tifway. ‘Patriot’ has exhibited very little leaf disease indicating it to be highly resistant to such disease caused by Bipolaris cynodontis and other dematiaceous fungal pathogens. ‘Patriot’ has good resistance to the bermudagrass stunt mite, Aceria neocynodonis, as indicated by minimal infestation when grown in field nurseries with other bermudagrasses that exhibited severe infestation. ‘Patriot’ has not been evaluated for response to fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, black cutworm, Agriotis ipsilon, or sod webworm, Herpetogramma phaeopteralis, all pests of bermudagrass. However, no sigificant injury was observed due to these pests during the time ‘Patriot’ was under evaluation.

Mean genetic color ratings of ‘Patriot’ were the same as those of Shanghai and CN 2-9 and greater than all other clonal cultivars (Table 3). ‘Patriot’ has nearly the same dark blue-green color of Tifton-10 (FIG. 1).

‘Patriot’ bermudagrass fertilized monthly during the growing season with nitrogen at rates of 1.0 to 1.5 Lbs. N/1000 ft² has the following color scale ratings using Munsell® Color Charts (Munsell Color, GretabMacbeth, LLC, 617 Little Britain Road, New Windsor, N.Y. 12553) for Plant Tissues.

-   -   1. ‘Patriot’ produces leaves of dark green color [7.5 GY (4/4 to         4/6)].     -   2. ‘Patriot’ produces leaf sheaths that vary in color from green         [7.5 GY. (6/60to 6/8)] to dark purple [10RP (2/4 to 3/4)]. The         purple anthocyanin pigmentation varies with age of the sheaths         and with environmental conditions, being more pronounced in         older tissues and when the plant is subjected to cool         termperatures. However, anthocyanin pigmentation is usually         present in leaf sheaths of ‘Patriot’ throughout the growing         season, with the presence and intensity the pigmentation tending         to be greater in leaf sheaths emanating from stolons compared to         leaf sheaths of upright shoots. Pigmentation usually first         develops at the base of the sheath and may ultimately occur         throughout the sheath.     -   3. ‘Patriot’ produces internodes that vary in color from light         green [10Y (5/4 to 6/4)] to dark purple [(10RP (2/4 to 3/4)]. As         in the case of leaf sheaths, anthocyanin pigmentation in         internodes varies with age of tissue and environmental         conditions in internodes as in leaves. Pigmentation tends to be         more pronounced in older tissues and when plants are subjected         to cool conditions. The presence and intensity of pigmentation         tends to be greater in internodes emanating from stolons         compared to upright shoots.     -   4. ‘Patriot’ bears inflorescences of light green color [2GY (6/6         to 6/8)]. At maturity the inflorescences are straw colored         [2.5YG (6/4/ to 7/4)].

Mean leaf texture of ‘Patriot’ was rated equal to Midlawn and CN 2-9, finer than Shanghai, and coarser than other clonal cultivars (Table 4). ‘Patriot’ has distinctly finer leaf texture than Tifton-10 (FIG. 1).

Mean stand density (Table 5) and mean percent living ground cover (Table 6) of ‘Patriot’ as indicated by ratings are greatest during summer months and on a par with other clonal cultivars throughout the growing season.

‘Patriot’ has good winter hardiness relative to other turf bermudagrass cultivars as indicated by winter injury ratings at Wichita, Kans. (Table 7) and laboratory measure of response to low freezing temperatures (Table 8). Its good low temperature tolerance reduces risk of winter injury relative to less winter hardy cultivars when grown in colder climatic regions where bermudagrass is used. The earlier growth of ‘Patriot’ relative to ‘TifSport’ at Stillwater, Okla. (36.06° N. Latitude; 9797.03 w. Longitude) is illustrated in FIG. 7.

‘Patriot’ has vigorous growth relative to other clonal cultivars as indicated by its spread during establishment at Fayetteville, Ark., Griffin, Ga., Lexington, Ky. and Starkville, Miss. (Table 9). The rate of spread during establishment of ‘Patriot’ and its growth potential are similar to Tifton 10 (Shanghai) although it has smaller plant size (texture). Ratings of seedhead abundance relative to other clonal cultivars may be found in Table 9a.

‘Patriot’ can be distinguished from other cultivars by DNA profiling. FIG. 8 shows a DAF (DNA Amplification Fingerprinting) profile using DAF primer 9111. The arrow points to a band at the 220 base pair region that is unique to ‘Patriot’ among the included cultivars. Other band differences also exist between ‘Patriot’ and the other cultivars in this profile.

The nuceotide sequence of DAF primer 9111 is ‘GAAACGCC’ (SEQ ID NO: 1). DAF primer 9111 was obtained from Integrated DNA Technologies, Inc., 1710 Commercial Park, Coralville, Iowa 52241.

TABLE 1 Mean turfgrass quality ratings¹ of ‘Patriot’ and eight other cultivars in the 1997 National Turf Evaluation Program bermudagrass test.² Maintenance Schedule³ Cultivar “A” “B” Cardinal 5.4 5.7 CN2-9 6.1 5.8 Midlawn 5.8 6.5 Mini-Verde 5.6 5.1 Patriot 6.1 6.6 Shanghai 5.6 6.1 Tifsport 6.5 6.1 Tifway 6.4 6.2 Tifgreen 6.1 6.3 5% LSD 0.2 0.2 CV (%) 15.8 14.2 ¹Based on a visual rating scale of 1 to 9 with 1 being poorest and 9 representing ideal turf. ²Means over years 1997 through 2001. ³Schedule “A”: mowing height = ½ to ¾ inch, ¾ to 1 Lb. N/100 ft²/growing month, irrigation to prevent visual drought stress, mowed 3 to 5 times/month. Schedule “B”: mowing height = ¾ to 1 inch, ½ to ¾ Lb. N/1000 ft²/growing month, irrigation to prevent dormancy, mowed 1 to 2 times/week. Schedule “A” conducted at nine locations; # Schedule “B” conducted at 11 locations.

TABLE 2 Summary of turfgrass quality ratings for ‘Patriot’ and eight other cultivars in the 1997 National Turfgrass Evaluation Program bermudagrass test. Statistics for all locations All locations Sum of Cultivar Mean¹ Rank² Ranks³ Rank⁴ Clonal Cultivars Cardinal 5.5 13 327 15 CN 2-9 5.9 9 213 10 Midlawn 6.1 7 156 7 Mini-Verde 5.4 14 312 13 Patriot 6.3 4 112 2 Shanghai 5.9 10 190 9 Tifgreen 6.2 6 136 6 Tifsport 6.4 2 125 4 Tifway 6.3 3 126 5 Seeded Cultivars Arizona Common 4.6 28 539 28 Blackjack 5.2 17 343 18 Blue-Muda 5.0 24 433 25 J-540 5.2 18 353 19 Jackpot 4.9 26 470 27 Majestic 5.2 19 340 17 Mirage 5.0 25 425 24 Numex-Sahara 4.9 27 469 26 Princess 6.3 5 121 3 Pyramid 5.0 23 416 23 Riviera 6.5 1 91 1 Savannah 5.3 15 317 14 ShangriLa 5.1 21 409 22 Southern Star 5.3 16 335 16 Sundevil II 5.1 22 394 21 SWI-11 5.8 11 234 12 Sydney 5.2 20 385 20 Transcontinental 5.7 12 215 11 Statistics for all locations Maximum Highest Lowest in Top Rank⁵ Rank⁶ 25%⁷ Clonal Cultivars Cardinal 1 28 20 CN 2-9 2 25 25 Midlawn 1 27 60 Mini-Verde 5 28 30 Patriot 1 11 65 Shanghai 3 16 30 Tifgreen 1 22 70 Tifsport 1 20 60 Tifway 1 23 75 Seeded Cultivars Arizona Common 23 28 0 Blackjack 4 27 5 Blue-Muda 5 26 5 J-540 12 24 0 Jackpot 16 28 0 Majestic 13 26 0 Mirage 7 28 5 Numex-Sahara 16 27 0 Princess 1 12 60 Pyramid 9 27 0 Riviera 1 12 80 Savannah 12 23 0 ShangriLa 10 27 0 Southern Star 11 28 0 Sundevil II 13 28 0 SWI-11 2 20 25 Sydney 6 28 5 Transcontinental 3 21 20 ¹Mean—An average of all the turfgrass quality ratings from all locations. ²Rank—Ranking of the mean of all quality ratings. ³Sum of ranks—a sum of all the rankings from the various locations. ⁴Rank—The ranking of the sum of ranks. ⁵Highest rank—The highest ranking achieved by that entry at any one location. ⁶Lowest rank—The lowest ranking achieved by that entry at any one location. ⁷Maximum in top 25%—The percentage of locations where that entry finished in the top 25% of all entries.

TABLE 3 Mean genetic color ratings of ‘Patriot’ and eight other bermudagrass cultivars in the 1997 National Turf Evaluation Program bermudagrass test.¹ Cultivar Rating² Cardinal 4.7 CN 2-9 7.2 Midlawn 6.5 Mini-Verde 6.7 Patriot 7.4 Shanghi 7.5 Tifgreen 6.2 Tifsport 7.0 Tifway 7.1 5% LSD 0.2 CV (%) 14.4 ¹Means over 21 locations and 5 years (1997-2001). ²Based on a visual rating scale with 1 being light green and 9 being dark green.

TABLE 4 Mean leaf texture ratings of ‘Patriot’ and eight other bermudagrass cultivars in the 1997 National Turf Evaluation Program bermudagrass test.¹ Cultivar Rating² Cardinal 8.2 CN 2-9 6.9 Midlawn 6.9 Mini-Verde 8.2 Patriot 6.7 Shanghai 5.1 Tifgreen 7.7 Tifsport 7.2 Tifway 7.3 5% LSD 0.2 CV (%) 14.4 ¹Means over 20 locations and 5 years (1997-2001). ²An estimate of leaf width based on a visual rating scale with 1 equaling coarse and 9 equaling fine.

TABLE 5 Mean stand density ratings of ‘Patriot’ and eight other bermudagrass cultivars in the 1997 National Turf Evaluation Program bermudagrass test.¹ Stand density rating² Cultivar Spring Summer Fall Cardinal 7.6 7.3 7.4 CN 2-9 6.5 7.1 7.0 Midlawn 7.1 7.1 7.1 Mini-Verde 6.9 8.1 7.8 Patriot 6.7 7.5 7.2 Shanghai 6.2 6.8 6.4 Tifgreen 7.3 7.6 7.5 Tifsport 7.2 7.6 7.6 Tifway 7.3 7.7 7.6 5% LSD 0.4 0.3 0.3 CV (%) 18.1 12.3 13.8 ¹Means over 9 locations and 5 years (1997-2001). ²An estimate of living plants or tillers per unit area based on a visual rating scale with 9 equaling maximum density.

TABLE 6 Mean percent living ground cover ratings of ‘Patriot’ and eight other bermudagrass cultivars in the 1997 National Turf Evaluation Program bermudagrass test.¹ Ground cover rating¹ Cultivar Spring² Summer³ Fall⁴ Cardinal 87.0 89.9 86.7 CN 2-9 70.1 88.3 91.6 Midlawn 85.9 90.8 88.2 Mini-Verde 59.3 78.8 87.7 Patriot 84.0 90.7 90.0 Shanghai 77.8 87.3 87.6 Tifgreen 78.7 91.4 91.0 Tifsport 71.4 89.5 93.9 Tifway 76.8 91.4 93.7 5% LSD 5.5 3.8 4.0 CV (%) 24.8 14.0 12.1 ¹Percent living ground cover based on surface area covered by the originally planted species. ²Means over 14 locations and 5 years. ³Means over 9 locations and 5 years. ⁴Means over 8 locations and 5 years.

TABLE 7 Mean winter injury ratings of ‘Patriot’ and eight other bermudagrass cultivars in the 1997 National Turf Evaluation Program bermudagrass test at Wichita, KS in 2001. Cultivar Rating Cardinal 5.0 CN 2-9 2.3 Midlawn 5.7 Mini-Verde 3.0 Patriot 6.7 Shanghai 5.3 Tifgreen 4.0 Tifsport 3.7 Tifway 2.7 5% LSD 2.3 CV (%) 32.7 ¹Injury due to low winter temperatures based on a rating scale with 1 indicating severe injury and 9 indicating no injury.

TABLE 8 Freeze tolerance of ‘Patriot’ and six other turf bermudagrass cultivars. T_(mid) values represent the midpoints of survival-temperature response curves¹. T_(mid) Cultivar ° C. Princess −6.9a^(†) Tifway −7.9b Tifsport −7.9b Riviera −8.3bc U-3 −8.9cd Patriot −9.7de Midlawn −10.3e ¹Jeffrey A. Anderson et al. 2003. Longer exposure durations increase freeze damage to turf bermudagrass. Crop Sci. 43:973-977. ^(†)Means of four repetitions are separated by Duncan's New Multiple Range Test at P,0.05.

TABLE 9 Mean establishment measurements or ratings of Patriot and eight other bermudagrass cultivars in the 1997 National Turf Evaluation Program bermudagrass test.¹ 1997 Measurements by date or weeks after planting. Lexington, Fayetteville, AR Griffin, GA KY Cultivar September 2 Wks 4 Wks 6 Wks 3 Wks Cardinal 88.3 28.3 68.3 91.0 51.3 CN 2-9 60.0 26.7 58.3 81.7 33.3 Midlawn 86.7 26.7 60.0 81.7 46.0 Mini-Verde 53.3 26.7 58.3 71.7 36.7 Patriot 93.0 33.3 70.0 97.7 56.0 Shanghai 95.0 38.3 71.7 95.0 50.3 Tifgreen 90.0 28.3 66.7 90.0 48.3 Tifsport 63.3 18.3 53.3 71.7 34.3 Tifway 71.7 26.7 58.3 76.7 29.3 5% LSD 15.7 11.0 10.1 10.0 11.5 CV (%) 12.4 19.4 8.7 7.1 16.6 Lexington, KY Starkville, MS Cultivar 5 Wks 13 Wks 4 Wks 6 Wks Cardinal 94.0 99.0 58.3 93.0 CN 2-9 77.7 99.0 50.0 81.7 Midlawn 93.3 99.0 58.3 93.0 Mini-Verde 80.0 98.3 41.7 81.7 Patriot 95.3 99.0 71.7 96.0 Shanghai 96.3 99.0 76.7 94.7 Tifgreen 92.3 99.0 66.7 96.3 Tifsport 68.3 97.3 53.3 83.3 Tifway 75.0 98.7 45.0 78.3 5% LSD 9.4 1.2 12.0 10.8 CV (%) 6.8 0.7 12.9 6.8

TABLE 9a Mean seedhead ratings of ‘Patriot’ and eight other bermudagrass cultivars in the 1997 National Turf Evaluation Program bermudagrass test.¹ Cultivar Riverside, CA, 1999 Stillwater, OK, 1999 Cardinal 8.0 4.0 8.0 8.0 8.0 CN 2-9 8.7 8.0 8.7 7.7 9.0 Midlawn 8.7 5.3 9.0 8.0 9.0 Mini-Verde 9.0 8.7 9.0 9.0 9.0 Patriot 9.0 7.7 9.0 8.0 8.3 Shanghai 9.0 7.3 8.7 8.0 9.0 Tifgreen 9.0 6.0 8.3 7.3 9.0 Tifsport 8.7 7.3 8.7 8.0 9.0 Tifway 8.3 8.0 8.7 8.0 9.0 5% LSD 0.9 1.0 0.7 0.4 0.3 CV (%) 4.8 9.0 4.4 3.1 2.1 ¹Ratings of seedhead abundance on a scale of 1 to 9 with 9 indicating none.

TABLE 10 Mean spring dead spot necrotic patch area (cm²) of bermudagrass cultivars in the 1997 National Turf Evaluation Program Bermudagrass Trial¹ at Stillwater, OK. Plots were inoculated with a blend of Ophiosphaerella herpotricha isolates KS107, KS112 and KS188 in September 1997. Entry 2000 2001 2002 Arizona Common 622 1791 2221 Cardinal 25 28 76 CN-2-9 383 931 1904 Continental 806 2124 3178 Blackjack 751 1372 2035 Blue Muda 806 1835 2377 GN-1 1367 1722 1410 Jackpot 682 1805 2293 J-540 876 2333 2180 Majestic 1081 2531 3096 Midlawn 20 45 99 Mini-Verde 1195 3677 4902 Mirage 747 1626 1923 OKC 19-9 68 133 429 Patriot (OKC 18-4) 377 754 766 Princess 77 1947 3727 3312 Pyramid 1093 2417 2886 Riviera (OKS 95-1) 795 1116 1595 Sahara 618 1734 2416 Savannah 717 1731 2186 Shanghai 779 1207 1277 Shangri La 742 1760 2476 Southern Star 809 1753 2263 Sundevil II 637 1555 2289 SW1-11 537 2184 2589 Sydney 834 1257 2642 Tifgreen 486 1118 2125 Tifsport 473 927 996 Tifway 469 1133 2754 Yukon (OKS 91-11) 167 345 678 LSD (0.05) 698 1096 678 ¹Yukon and GN-1 were included at the Stillwater, OK, NTEP Bermudagrass Test Site as local standards. 

1. A bermudagrass plant substantially as described and illustrated in the specification herein. 